Automated Brain Morphometry for Dementia Diagnosis
- Conditions
- Dementia
- Interventions
- Device: Brain MorphometryOther: Standard radiological assessment
- Registration Number
- NCT02286505
- Lead Sponsor
- King's College London
- Brief Summary
Early dementia diagnosis improves patient and carer experience, links them to appropriate care and support and enables timely symptomatic treatment. The guidelines of the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommend brain Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assist with the diagnosis in suspected dementia. Recently, computerised analysis of MRI scans, also known as automated brain morphometry, has shown potential to detect the brain changes characteristic of early dementia, and may therefore be a useful addition to the standard reporting performed by a neuroradiologist. The present pilot study will assess whether adding brain morphometric analysis to the usual diagnostic pathway improve diagnosis in clinical practice as an addition to the existing diagnostic pathway in a memory clinic setting. The main purpose of the study is to compare measures of the clinicians diagnostic confidence in patients with and without brain morphometry.
- Detailed Description
Not available
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- UNKNOWN
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 80
- Subjects referred to a South London and Maudsley (SLaM) memory clinic for suspected dementia.
- Cognitive scores (standardised MMSE of 15 or more inclusive) and impairment in activities of daily living consistent with a diagnosis of mild to moderate dementia or mild cognitive impairment.
- Working knowledge of English.
- Must consent to the imaging and follow-up aspects of the study. If the patient lacks capacity to consent to the study, they will not be invited to participate.
- If the patient has a partner or carer able to provide an independent evaluation of functioning and able and willing to be involved in a follow-up interview about their experience of the diagnostic process, the carer should also consent to participate in the study.
- Contraindications for MRI
- Patients 50 or younger (cognitive impairment in this younger population is only exceptionally due to a neurodegenerative condition). There are no upper age limits.
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Brain Morphometry Standard radiological assessment Quantitative, automated reading of hippocampal volume from MRI scans, complemented by a general measure of brain atrophy, in addition to standard neuroradiological report. Brain Morphometry Brain Morphometry Quantitative, automated reading of hippocampal volume from MRI scans, complemented by a general measure of brain atrophy, in addition to standard neuroradiological report. Standard radiological assessment. Standard radiological assessment Standard neuroradiological report of the structural MRI only.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Difference in confidence in the clinical diagnosis 12 weeks Difference in confidence of the clinical diagnosis between the two arms of the trial (patient with and without quantitative brain morphometric analysis). This is a number for each subject ranging from 1 (not at all confident) to 5 (extremely confident), as measured by a questionnaire completed by the clinician at the time of final diagnosis.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Time to diagnosis. 12 weeks Comparing time from referral to diagnosis in patients with and without brain morphometry.
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
Old Age Psychiatry and Dementia Clinical Academic Group, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London
🇬🇧London, United Kingdom